Consumer anger at Gas Pumps

[Wonka]

In the past, I haven't noticed too many angry customers at the gas stations. Today was very different. People were talking to one another complaining "enough is enough". I wonder. Is our patience beginning to wane? I hope not since there is no short-term fix.

 

[normab]

After watching all the Ike happenings, I stopped to get gas today and locally in north NJ the prices were the same as yesterday. I only saw one station that was about $0.30 more than the others. But on the news tonight there were some stations that had raised the price quite a bit.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I saw prices in/around Milwaukee nudging up the past couple of days. I'm up "north" right now, however, and they seem to be stable . . . at least that's what the locals tell me Prices up here are a good 20 cents less than SE Wisconsin.

 

[ricoba]

Just filled up at ARCO this PM, it was $3.57, which is the lowest around this area. We have not seen any spikes here, at least none I am aware of.

I think this is a good time to live in CA, since as I understand it, we pretty much use our own refineries since we have a bunch of additives that other states don't require. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong about this, since I am no expert in this area.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Anger, Shmanger.

I'm annoyed when I have to pay big bux for a tankful of gasoline.

I am angry when there isn't any gasoline & I can't tank up the car.

Might be some kind of supply-demand phenomenon or something, I don't know.

Plus, I don't know zippity-doodah about economics.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Stressy]

Just filled up at ARCO this PM, it was $3.57, which is the lowest around this area. We have not seen any spikes here, at least none I am aware of.

I think this is a good time to live in CA, since as I understand it, we pretty much use our own refineries since we have a bunch of additives that other states don't require. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong about this, since I am no expert in this area.

I believe you are correct. After reading about the gas spikes-I told my DH to fill up...he told me the same thing-that we have "special gas" in California and our own refineries. Sure enough..gas is still the same price today as it was yesterday which is about 3.65 where I live.

 

[PerryM]

38¢ Gasoline is here right now!

In 1950 the cost of a gallon of gas was 38¢ (Not adjusted for inflation).

Gasoline has been inflating at 4% a year since then - or $3.70 a gallon in 2008.

Go back to 1950 and find out the price of any commodity and you will see that it inflates around the cost of capital - about 3 to 4% a year.

We are constantly whipped into a frenzy by folks who take simple facts and distort them for political benefits - "Those evil oil companies".

That's all that's going on here - political stunts designed to whip folks into making stupid decisions that benefit the politicians.

Milk was 82¢ a gallon in 1950 and has compounded at about 2.5% per year since then.

So is the 1.5% difference per year attributable to evil forces or just the simple fact that we have decided to not drill in the US? Bingo.

 

[joycapecod]

I live on Cape Cod and if I by gas before I go over the bridge to the mainland it is at least $0.40 more per gallon. Just over the bridge it is that $0.40 less...we are talking a distance of less than 5 miles. I think in my instance it has to do with greed and the "over the bridge" mentality. Do I buy my gas on the Cape or off? I wouldn't buy gas on the Cape unless I knew I couldn't get over the bridge to get it. What is really irksome is that the expensive station is the one tourists see first when they come across the bridge, so they usually stop to tank up.

Joy

 

[PerryM]

The USA has the second highest corporate taxes on this planet – only Japan’s social society beats us by a small amount.

Add up all the federal, state, local taxes and they dwarf the “evil profits” of the folks who actually explore, drill, transport, refine, and sell gas.

As we all know corporations don’t pay 1 cent in taxes – they simply collect tax revenue for the various governments from us while the politicians pull a slight of hand and blame “Big Oil”.

So in addition to the laws of supply and demand throw on the ravenous appetite of governments totally out of control redistributing your wealth for their benefit.

This explains why prices are where they are today.

 

[dioxide45]

In 1950 the cost of a gallon of gas was 38¢ (Not adjusted for inflation).

Gasoline has been inflating at 4% a year since then - or $3.70 a gallon in 2008.

Go back to 1950 and find out the price of any commodity and you will see that it inflates around the cost of capital - about 3 to 4% a year.

We are constantly whipped into a frenzy by folks who take simple facts and distort them for political benefits - "Those evil oil companies".

That's all that's going on here - political stunts designed to whip folks into making stupid decisions that benefit the politicians.

Milk was 82¢ a gallon in 1950 and has compounded at about 2.5% per year since then.

So is the 1.5% difference per year attributable to evil forces or just the simple fact that we have decided to not drill in the US? Bingo.

Use your starting price of gasoline of 2005 and see what your inflation rate is?

 

[PerryM]

Use your starting price of gasoline of 2005 and see what your inflation rate is?

Sure you can take short term oscillations up and down they will be above the average or below the long term average. I see + - 10% oscillations in a week in St. Louis – they mean little. The price you see at the pump is driven by speculators who are betting on the future delivery price of gas – they don’t care if that’s higher or lower; they really don't care - they just guess what prices will be doing 10 months from now.

When politicians fan the fire of fear, which they do on a daily basis, just remember that THEY are the ones who tinker with the laws of supply and demand and thus skew them for their benefit.

A golden rule that has worked for 10,000 years is this “Tax something and you will stifle it”, “Remove taxes and you will promote it”.

Politicians know this and this is exactly what they want – high gas prices so they get high taxes. Folks it’s really that simple.

Don’t blame the free market which is ALWAYS right – blame the politicians who cause these crazy shortages and wacko policies so they can grab power from you and control us.

Look at how gas and oil has fallen since just the hint of the US drilling on our own soil – don’t drill and you can expect shortages and thus higher prices which mean higher taxes which politicians love – why should they care a whit?

I'm not going to comment further since this will turn into a political forum.

 

[PigsDad]

How is this NOT a political thread???? I recently had a post deleted for far less political content than this thread...

Kurt

 

[AwayWeGo]

You Are Correct, Sir.

How is this NOT a political thread???? I recently had a post deleted for far less political content than this thread...

Kurt

You are absolutely right.

I guess we honked-off gas pumpers better dial it down or the Grand Pro will soon be administering some much needed discipline.

Just saying.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Don]

BP is being investigated, throughout Florida, for price gouging.
Perry, are you sure about that .38/gal. price. I paid .34/gal. when I filled up my first car in Nov. '69. I'm thinking 1950 was more like .28/gal.

 

[swift]

Sorry to say this thread now needs to be closed because it took on a political nature.